Early this week, the United States, Britain and Spain introduced a resolution to the U.N. Security Council stating that Iraq had "failed to take the final opportunity to disarm." This resolution could clear the way for military action against that country.
But on the other side of the table, Germany, France and Russia introduced a competing initiative calling for at least four months of continued weapons inspections.
University faculty and students expressed a wide range of opinions on the possible war in interviews this week, from skepticism to full support.
Uwe Reinhardt, a professor in the Wilson School, suggested that the debate within the United Nations might be an "orchestrated charade."
The United States would not have been ready to attack Iraq until mid-March, he said, even if opposition within the United Nations had not prevented the council's backing military action.
In a Feb. 5 speech before the Security Council, Secretary of State Colin Powell laid out the Bush administration's case against Iraq. Powell said that it was clear that Iraq was trying to thwart the efforts of the weapons inspectors who were sent to enforce U.N. Resolution 1441, passed Nov. 8.
That resolution stated that Iraq was in material breach of previous resolutions following the Gulf War regarding weapons inspections and required Iraq to provide U.N. inspectors an account of "all aspects of its programmes to develop chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons" — within 30 days.
In support of the evidence
Professor Jack Matlock, former ambassador to the Soviet Union, said that Powell made a very powerful case that Iraq still possesses large stocks of chemical and biological weapons.
He added that a war with Iraq would be justified — though "unwise" without some international legitimation — because Iraq is in violation of agreements made under U.N. resolutions.
Reinhardt said that Powell's speech and the presentation by chief weapons inspector Hans Blix on Feb. 14 showed that Iraq has not accounted for significant amounts of chemical weapons.
Powell presented evidence that allegedly demonstrated Iraqi efforts to "clean up" weapons sites in advance of the arrival of U.N. inspectors. He also claimed that the country used 18 trucks as mobile biological weapons labs and that Saddam Hussein has continued attempts to acquire materials necessary for a nuclear weapons program.
"The tonnages they were talking about, to me, suggest that Saddam is hiding this stuff," Reinhardt added.
Students had divergent opinions on Iraq's level of compliance with inspections. David Konieczkowski '06, head of the Princeton Committee Against Terrorism, said that the purpose of a weapons inspections regime should be to determine whether Iraq is willing to cooperate.
"I think there's a pretty compelling case that Iraq is not cooperating with disarmament," he added.
Not enough evidence
Taufiq Rahim '04 said some of the alleged weapons sites mentioned by Powell had already been visited by inspectors who found no evidence of weapons production. Rahim, head of the student group Global Issues Forum, said that while Iraq has not been fully compliant with inspections, they have not "obstructed" the inspectors.
North Korea, which "has shown a tendency to sell arms," presents more of a threat to the international community than Iraq, Rahim said.
Powell also presented evidence of Iraqi ties to al Qaeda, saying that the country had offered safe haven to members of that group and was harboring a terrorist network led by an associate of Osama bin Laden.
Powell's arguments on Iraqi connections to al Qaeda were not convincing and undermined his credibility, Reinhardt said.
"There is not a link," Rahim said. He added that al Qaeda has referred to Iraq as an "apostate" — meaning Iraq has abandoned Islam — and said that a connection between the two is "inconceivable."
Sam Spector '03, former head of the Princeton Israel Public Affairs Committee, said a connection between Iraq and al Qaeda would not be surprising. They share a strong opposition to the predominance of U.S. power in the Middle East, he said.
Iraq has other links to terror, Konieczkowski noted. "Hussein now sends $15,000 to the family of every Palestinian suicide bomber," he said.
Konieczkowski added that he did not think the United States should wait to find out whether Iraq will provide dangerous weapons to terrorists.
The United States will not wait much longer on Security Council approval, Reinhardt said. "There's no question in my mind that by April 15 Baghdad will be occupied by U.S. troops," he said.
Gabe Collins '05, editor of American Foreign Policy, said that a veto of a resolution backing military action is not likely. China would not veto such a resolution because it would be afraid to jeopardize trade with the United States, he said.
If the Security Council fails to back action, Spector said it will have shown itself to be irrelevant.
Konieczkowski said without U.N. backing, the United States would still have international support. "When we act, I don't think we'll be acting unilaterally," he said, referring to those countries already supporting action.
Preventing Iraqi weapons development is a concern for the entire international community.
Both Reinhardt and Matlock supported continuing inspections and suggested that it would be helpful to increase the number of inspectors.
Konieczkowski and Spector said that the United States has legitimate justification to act now.
"The longer we wait, the more our credibility in the region will deteriorate," Spector said.
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